Breadcrumb

Joseph Rea REED

1835-1925

REED, Joseph Rea, a Representative from Iowa; born in Ashland County, Ohio, March 12, 1835; attended the common schools and Vermillion Institution, Hayesville, Ohio, 1854-1857; moved to Adel, Dallas County, Iowa, in 1857; studied law; was admitted to the bar in 1859 and engaged in the practice of law at Adel until 1861; enlisted as first lieutenant in the Second Battery, Iowa Light Artillery, in July 1861, promoted to captain in October 1864, and served until June 10, 1865; resumed the practice of law in Adel; member of the State senate in 1866 and 1868; moved to Council Bluffs, Iowa, in 1869; judge of the district court 1872-1884; judge of the supreme court of the State 1884-1889; elected as a Republican to the Fifty-first Congress (March 4, 1889-March 3, 1891); unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1890 to the Fifty-second Congress; chief justice of the court of private land claims in 1891-1904; resumed the practice of law in Council Bluffs, Pottawattamie County, Iowa, where he died on April 2, 1925; interment in Walnut Hill Cemetery.

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1771-Present